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He said further action was essential. “If councils don’t get their houses in order and deliver this basic public service then they will be held to account at the ballot box — they have no excuse and no one else to blame,” he said. “We will be looking closely at the central government funding for bin collections.

“Councils receive £28 billion in formula grant funding — it’s not unreasonable that they provide a decent bin service in return.”

It is understood that local authorities in England and Wales get about £250 million from Government funds to help cover the costs of refuse collection.

This money may be withheld from local authorities not collecting waste weekly.

More than 160 English authorities introduced fortnightly collections after the Labour government introduced incentives to persuade them to abandon weekly rounds.

The decision helped to cut the amount of waste sent to landfill but has led to claims of health and hygiene problems.

Earlier this year, Mr Pickles announced a £250 million fund to subsidise the cost of returning to weekly collections.

About 85 councils will receive money from the scheme although it is not clear if they have all committed to restoring a full weekly service.

The issue has become a major source of controversy for the Government with attempts to restore weekly collections previously thwarted by the Environment Department, council groups and some Liberal Democrats.

Mr Pickles is determined to confront those who, he believes, are wrongly blocking the return of weekly collections on environmental grounds.

This is expected to include new guidance being issued to councils on how to reintroduce more regular pick-ups without undermining recycling.

Matthew Sinclair, the chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, welcomed the announcement. He said last night weekly collections were “the very least anyone should expect in return for what they are paying in council tax”.

Britain has one of the worst recycling records in Europe and councils face large European Union fines if they fail to cut the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Ministers do not believe that the return to weekly collections should add to this problem.

The World Health Organisation recommends that rubbish should be collected weekly in climates such as in Britain.

David Cameron has taken a close interest in the issue and described fortnightly collections as causing “huge problems”.